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> Neither Rain, nor Sleet, nor hail of bullets, Courier Runs
hyzmarca
post Apr 16 2006, 07:57 PM
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I was watching The Postman last night and began thinking about the importance of the Shadowrunner as a courier and courier runs in general.

Courier runs are, for the most part, milk runs. Take package A to location B without asking any questions. Any idiot can do it. For this reason, basic courier runs are probably one of the most neglected types of runs.

But, there are always wrenches that can be thrown into the machinery of a good courier run. For one thing, if a Johnson is hiring Shadowrunners to carry a package then something is most certainly up. There are plenty of legit courier services that won't ask any questions so long as you check the box that affirms you aren't sending any illegal substances and legit same-day delivery is almost certianly cheaper than Shadowrunners. So there will always be an element of danger from a courier run because either the pagkage is very special or the destination is so dangerous no legit service would ship there.

In fact, there is no end to the potential complications in a courier run. They could come from the enviorment, the authorities, other forces who want the package, and the package itself.

Imagine transporting a sealed silver coffin from a corporate office in Milan to a ghoul in Chicago's Shattergraves during Bug City.
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Voran
post Apr 16 2006, 09:11 PM
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Or finding and returning the lost package of Kevin Costner's talent :)

Hehe anyway, yeah I like courier runs, they can be a useful tool for solo missions or something a smaller team can do when some of the other players don't show up.

Alternately, courier runs can be like process-serving. You have to deliver a package that the target knows is coming, but doesn't want.

Or the faithful, "i'm paying you to run this package, but actually its not worth anything cause I'm using you as a decoy while the real package is sent another way".
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SL James
post Apr 16 2006, 09:32 PM
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Considering that FedEx ships to Afghanistan and Iraq, I cannot even fathom what kind of places would be so fucked up in 206x that even they wouldn't go.

I'd even bet they go into parts of the CZ by the mid-60s. But I mean, the SOX, maybe? But only because there's no official reason for anyone to be there. That or the very far reachs of human exploration and private property like remote corporate bases.
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Kagetenshi
post Apr 16 2006, 09:37 PM
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There is no CZ after 2058.

Does FedEx ship to Somalia?

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SL James
post Apr 16 2006, 09:44 PM
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Well, the area-formerly-known-as-the-CZ.

And, no, they're embargoed from shipping to/from Somalia and some other countries (Iran, Cuba, Sudan). The only places that they seem to not go to because of it's danger is the Central African Republic and Sierra Leone. They don't go to Myanmar for some reason, either.

But they do go to Libya and Liberia.
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Wounded Ronin
post Apr 16 2006, 10:21 PM
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I can think of a valid reason for an urban courrier run.

Gang X holds an area that Corporation Y would like to take control of. Gang X dosen't cooperate with Corporation Y. Corporation Y could just send in the soldiers to Pol Pot the gangers but that would be bad PR even if it were totally amusing. Instead they decide to take a soft approach by making the gang look bad.

So, Corporation Y hires a bunch of shadowrunners to make various deliveries of extremely valuable items (like medical supplies and so forth) to some of the clinics of the neighborhood. They give the neighborhood clinics money to serve the people and post uniformed guards at the clinic with Wired Reflexes III who can pwn the gangers. The shadowrunners come in making high profile delivers to flaut the gang and make their "offers" of protection seem laughably superfluous.

The Johnson also instructs the runners to blow away with extreme prejudice any gangers who might try and stop their deliveries. Indirect Pol Pot. The Johnson even says, "If you expend over 200 rounds of ammunition into gang members we'll re-supply you for FREE!", which they verify by having one of their guards look for huge piles of casings in the area.

Wow, that would be a hysterically funny and awesome run.
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Voran
post Apr 17 2006, 01:03 AM
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That'd be kinda cool. I know gangers are all jaded in SR, given the stuff they put up with day to day, but a bunch of -eager- looking SRs who step out of the van carrying assault rifles, LMGs and the troll with the assault cannon, would give them pause.

Probably get a free round on them cause they'd be all "c'mon, that's gotta be a movie, no one really comes out packing ordinance like that'.
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nick012000
post Apr 17 2006, 03:44 PM
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Assault cannon? Why? LMGs do better damage.
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Kagetenshi
post Apr 17 2006, 04:03 PM
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Er, no, no they don't.

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nick012000
post Apr 17 2006, 05:18 PM
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Yeah. 6P + 2 EX EX +6 long narrow burst = 14P, 4 better than an assault cannon.
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Kagetenshi
post Apr 17 2006, 05:21 PM
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Assault cannon: 18D, no recoil. Simple Action (though the weapon can only fire once per pass). 9S against vehicles, bounces against vehicle armor >9.

LMG: 7S, 17D at full auto, +10 recoil, uncompensated is doubled. Complex Action. 8D against vehicles, bounces against vehicle armor >2.

HV-LMG: 6S, 22D at full auto, +16 recoil, otherwise as above. 11D against vehicles, bounces against vehicle armor >2.

MMG: 9S, 19D at full auto. Recoil and action as above. 9D against vehicles. Bounces against vehicle armor >3.

HMG: 10S, 20D at full auto. Recoil and action as above. 10D against vehicles. Bounces against vehicle armor >4.

~J
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Kremlin KOA
post Apr 17 2006, 05:23 PM
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and the thread becomes SR3 v SR4
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mrobviousjosh
post Apr 17 2006, 06:18 PM
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QUOTE (Voran)
Or finding and returning the lost package of Kevin Costner's talent :)

There's no luck saving that one...I think it's still in Waterworld. Not a *BAD* film but not a GOOD film either. Just kind of...eh.
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Butterblume
post Apr 17 2006, 06:23 PM
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I like the LMG. More options than an assault cannon ;).
(SR4)

That said, courier runs can be quick fun. As long as they don't happen to often.

OT: I'd rather see The Postman again instead of Waterworld.

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PBTHHHHT
post Apr 17 2006, 07:24 PM
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Heh, iirc I remember an old comment back in the sam sourcebook that questioned what the heck they called it a 'general purpose' machine gun?
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Butterblume
post Apr 17 2006, 08:05 PM
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I remember that comment ;).

A general purpose machine gun is build for (you can guess) different purposes.

So, usable as an infantry man-portable infantry support weapon (light machine gun). Or, mounted on a vehicle or tripod, as medium machine gun.
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SL James
post Apr 17 2006, 08:06 PM
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QUOTE (SSC @ 61)
>>>>>[General Purpose Heavy Machine Gun? And to think I always believed the purpose of heavy machine guns was pretty well defined.]<<<<<
      —Hatchetman <08:54:03/12-17-50>
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Wounded Ronin
post Apr 17 2006, 10:21 PM
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QUOTE (Voran)
That'd be kinda cool. I know gangers are all jaded in SR, given the stuff they put up with day to day, but a bunch of -eager- looking SRs who step out of the van carrying assault rifles, LMGs and the troll with the assault cannon, would give them pause.

Probably get a free round on them cause they'd be all "c'mon, that's gotta be a movie, no one really comes out packing ordinance like that'.

OK, I have an idea for a campaign I might write.

So, most people, if the PCs go and kill everyone in sight off the bat, get all frustrated. Rar, the sociopathic PCs derailed t3h campaign. What will I ever do now?

I feel like writing a couple of linked missions where if the PCs gun down everyone in sight on principle the game keeps working. The first mission could be this courrier run.

Even if the PCs go and systematically slaughter all the gang members and then go and systematically kill everyone in the neighborhood (all the civilians) the Johnson dosen't get mad. The reason is that the PCs (the deniable assets) have just removed everyone from the neighborhood and the corporation can now easily move in and buy out all the property. No more reason for the slow soft approach. The PCs just delieved above and beyond. Maybe the Johnson will even giggle at the sick humor of it all and buy everyone Bloody Marys.

I kind of feel like it would be a noteworthy accomplishment to have a campaign that "works" for both the morally upstanding approach as well as the Vietnam PTSD short headcase approach.
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James McMurray
post Apr 17 2006, 10:28 PM
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Any campaign can work for both approaches if the GM is ready to handle whichever direction the party decides to go. In our games there is rarely a "no deaths" clause, and if there isn't he Johnson really doesn't care how the job gets done as long as it gets done. Some have raised their eyebrows and opted not to hire the group again, but that shouldn't derail a campaign, because a campaign shouldn't have a rail in the first place, unless it's been discussed by the players and GMs that it'll be that kind of game, in which case the PCs should be developed as types that would work in the game style desired.
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Trax
post Apr 17 2006, 10:41 PM
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In the campaign that I'm playing we've had 1-2 missions where it was pretty much "Anything goes.". Those were fun, unfortunate a mage disintegrated my LMG in the big showdown at an abandoned mall where the gangers were hiding out. Time for me to get an Assault Cannon. :D I regret not making him an Ork or Troll, but he's still fun to play.

Charisma of 3, and he's the leader of the pack.
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Kremlin KOA
post Apr 18 2006, 03:35 AM
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ronin Run it on DS
I want IN!!!!!!
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Wounded Ronin
post Apr 18 2006, 04:33 AM
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QUOTE (Kremlin KOA)
ronin Run it on DS
I want IN!!!!!!

Wow, man. That's the highest compliment I can expect to recieve. Thank you very, very much.

Thing is, something with a body count like that probably wouldn't be practical as a play by post game, because there'd be a *lot* of number crunching and dice rolling. Play by post combat, on the other hand, is really, really, freaking slow. Do you really want for 200+ combat rolls to be made in play by post?
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Kremlin KOA
post Apr 18 2006, 05:57 AM
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play by chat?
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Dranem
post Apr 18 2006, 06:19 AM
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For examples of what can go wrong during a courier run, just watch movies like The Transporter :D
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SL James
post Apr 18 2006, 06:44 AM
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Wha... He got the girl and kicked ass. How is that going wrong?
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